Remarkably quick! The first source they found was full of iron, so they continued down. They reckon that the lining system they use stops unwanted water getting in. It needs a couple of weeks to settle before water testing can be done so it will be a while before we find out how pure it is.
When they hit water at 40m the pressure sent it 9m up the borehole, they thought they had a gusher.

Speaking of gushers, when we were in Iceland apart from visiting the Great Geyser we also went to the site of the water feed boreholes for the geothermal power station at Keflavik. As you approach the site you can hear and feel the power of the water. The ground around the station for about 50 metres vibrates and all the chippings on the road surface bounce. You can feel the heat as well as the water roars through the pipework at the take off point. The pipe is about 1 meter diameter and turns 90 degrees at the well head. There are multiple boreholes around the site and the water comes out of the ground at 100 degrees and at about 200mph, no pumps required, sounds like a jet engine. The pipes from each well head all converge and run down to the power station in parallel. Very impressive but you cant linger too long or you start to feel sick with the vibration.

You know sometimes van drivers can't manage to negotiate the bends in our track or even turn round without a struggle. These guys have brought 2 big 8 wheelers in, both loaded up with hefty equipment and parked up exactly where they want them, no trouble.

Day 1 as I understand it!
They drilled down to about 5.5 metres and came across a cavity in the shale which was full of black water that sprayed everywhere. They have sunk steel pipes and drilled on through the cavity to dry shale. Next step is to pour cement in to seal off the water from that cavity, which will be tomorrow's task.
I have been indoors trying to keep the dogs cool and calm while Col has been outside taking photos, a selection of which I will post later. These are pics which I have taken after the work has finished and the dogs, cats & I have ventured out.

Shame you didn't get to see the rig in action Stanley!
The big steels are in place and grouted with cement to screen out groundwater. It takes 24 hours at least to set so the guys wont be back now till Monday when they will recommence drilling.